# How did 6 feet become the depth for burial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2006, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686 "2006-06-22T05:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/1 "2006-06-22T05:53:21Z")
subject says it all… ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/2 "2006-06-22T06:03:19Z")
I’m guessing it was supposed to be 10 or 12 feet. After 2 hours of hand digging they were like, “Whew! Six feet oughta be enough, huh?” I got nothin’… ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/3 "2006-06-22T06:52:49Z")
Except, of course, for lawyers. They bury lawyers 15 feet underground instead of 6. Because deep down, they’re real nice people. :: d&r :: ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/4 "2006-06-22T07:16:46Z")
Huh. Googled for 10 minutes and got nothing. Tried [ask.com](http://ask.com) and got the answer on the first [hit](http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020823.html) . Yay alternate search engines. Just kidding! I love you google. No! Don’t leave! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/5 "2006-06-22T12:16:21Z")
It _might_ be so as to have the body below the frost line in regions where it freezes in the winter. That’s my WAG, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/6 "2006-06-22T12:37:00Z")
I understood it to be because animals won’t dig through 6 feet of ground to feed on a carcass. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/7 "2006-06-22T13:12:08Z")
Because if grave diggers go much deeper, they would need a ladder to get out of the grave. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/8 "2006-06-22T13:20:51Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Because if grave diggers go much deeper, they would need a ladder to get out of the grave. A man was walking in a graveyard on a moonless night, when he stepped into an open grave. He tried and tried, but couldn’t climb out. Eventually he sat in a dark corner. Shortly, another man fell into the grave. He tried and tried, but couldn’t get out. The first man said gravely, ‘You’ll never get out!’ But he did! :eek: > [@VunderBob](#): > > I understood it to be because animals won’t dig through 6 feet of ground to feed on a carcass. ‘Dammit, Carl! We’ve been digging for hours! We’re five and a half feet down! Let’s give up.’ ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/9 "2006-06-22T13:41:14Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > A man was walking in a graveyard on a moonless night, when he stepped into an open grave. He tried and tried, but couldn’t climb out. Eventually he sat in a dark corner. Shortly, another man fell into the grave. He tried and tried, but couldn’t get out. The first man said gravely, ‘You’ll never get out!’ But he did! :eek: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/10 "2006-06-22T13:42:48Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > 😕 Think: “Spooky”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/11 "2006-06-22T13:50:28Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I understood it to be because animals won’t dig through 6 feet of ground to feed on a carcass. [Hopeless Nitpickery:](http://www.compost-bin.org/earthworm-species.html) > [@](#): > > Anecic worms (like the common nightcrawler Lumbricus terrestris) build permanent, vertical burrows that extend from the soil surface down through the upper mineral soil layer. It is not unusual for their burrows to reach a depth of six feet or more. I like the frostline theory myself. It’d be annoying to have to rebury every few years. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/12 "2006-06-22T13:52:07Z")
Different areas have different required burial depths. Most USA sites require ceament burrial vaults also to bevent subsidence. Air tight caskets eventualy fail, so even with modern caskets smell is a consideration, as is health risks. The frost line is a consideration as is floating away in a flood. Maybe some professionals can speak up. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/13 "2006-06-22T13:54:15Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Hopeless Nitpickery:](http://www.compost-bin.org/earthworm-species.html) > I like the frostline theory myself. It’d be annoying to have to rebury every few years. I believe that dogs, jackals, hyenas & the like were the primary issue. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/14 "2006-06-22T13:55:46Z")
The spelling is a secret code. Save your time people it’s unbreakable ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/15 "2006-06-22T13:56:43Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > A man was walking in a graveyard on a moonless night, when he stepped into an open grave… Sounds like the drunk who took a shortcut through the cemetary one night and fell into an open grave. Another drunk taking the same shortcut came along a short time later, and heard him moaning from the bottom or the grave, “I’m cold, I’m sooo cold!”. The second drunk replied, “Well of course you are, you’ve gone and kicked all your covers off!” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/16 "2006-06-22T16:28:29Z")
An old friend of mine worked for a year as a grave digger. He told me that Indiana law specifies **four** feet, not six. Frost heave might be a concern around Fort Wayne, but in Evansville, frost is a rare thing. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/17 "2006-06-22T16:28:59Z")
Okay, I did some more digging and found a better source. Daniel Defoe wrote a [Journal of the Plague Year](http://www.mastertexts.com/index.php?PageName=ChapterDetails&TitleID=524&VolumeNo=0&ChapterNo=3) about various edicts passed in London in 1665 in an attempt to control the plague. This one: “And that no corpse dying of infection shall be buried, or remain in any church in time of common prayer, sermon, or lecture. And that no children be suffered at time of burial of any corpse in any church, churchyard, or burying-place to come near the corpse, coffin, or grave. And that all the graves shall be at least six feet deep.” not only sticks around as our current idea of grave depths, but also other unspoken burial practices like not bringing children, and not having the burial during a public service. At least, those were taboo in my family. My mom caught a lot of flak from relatives for taking me to my grandmother’s funeral when I was 3. So apparently the whole 6 feet thing was just a nice round number that was probably deep enough to keep the bodies from spreading disease. The edicts also have details about not keeping clothing or bedding from the infected person, not going to infected people’s houses, etc. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/18 "2006-06-22T16:51:21Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > 😕 He climbed up the other guy. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/19 "2006-06-23T14:33:31Z")
Just a guess, but nothing to do with being easy to measure? For example, wouldn’t most coffins be 6 feet long? As soon as you can stand the coffin on its end, you know you have the right depth? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686/20 "2006-06-23T14:43:05Z")
> [@First Amongst Daves](#): > > Just a guess, but nothing to do with being easy to measure? For example, wouldn’t most coffins be 6 feet long? As soon as you can stand the coffin on its end, you know you have the right depth? I’m sure there were/are better ways to measure depth… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-6-feet-become-the-depth-for-burial/361686.md?page=2)